Wednesday, March 21, 2007

After Monday's rare practice at the Wachovia Center, necessitated by the latest team picture day in club history, Biron unzipped a pouch and revealed his new Flyers mask, glistening in orange and black with images of the Rocky statue, the Philadelphia skyline and the Liberty Bell.

The story of Biron's mask has been ongoing now for quite a while, as the veteran netminder kept his plain white getup through the end of his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres — a public protest for a trade to a team that would give him a shot to be a No. 1 netminder.

Now Biron has his shot, and from all accounts he's going to sign a long-term deal in Philadelphia in the near future.

12 Comments:

For the record, it was not a public protest to be traded. Biron's been waiting for a new mask to get in for quite some time (at least 2-3 months) now because his normal one didn't fit right. The white one did, and now he finally has his correct mask. It's purely coincedental that he's now on another team.

Cast in the same role this season, Biron again performed when called upon and remained his usual care-free, cajoling self, his constant banter – in both French and English – keeping the locker room loose. But the thought of plying his trade elsewhere was also part of this season’s mindset, as Biron donned a stark white mask, never committing to a fancy Sabres’ paint job. The underlying tongue-in-cheek reference being he didn’t know how long his stay would be in Buffalo.— NHL.com

i noticed that Joey Mac finally donned a white mask for Boston instead of the Detroit mask that he'd continued wearing since the trade. I wonder if the all white mask is out of concern that he'll be traded again soon.

About Biron's equipment after his trade: it elicited a comment from one of the announcer that the carpets didn't match the drapes. One of the funniest things I've heard in a long time.

Marty did have a new Sabres-specific mask earlier this season. I found a picture of him wearing it on the Getty image page (did a search for "biron" under sports). There are several images of him in it during the 11/15 game against the Sens.

http://tinyurl.com/2ytsog

As TomL said, the story is that the painted mask didn't fit right, so he went back to the white one. Now the fact that he didn't paint the white one might have been a message, but the story is that he was waiting for the painted one to get replaced.

Either way, it's crazy that an article appearing on NHL.com tries to say he "never committ(ed) to a fancy Sabres' paint job", when it took me less than 5 minutes to find proof that he in fact did.

Yes, during camp and at the beginning of the season, he was unhappy about his situation (read: playing time), but never about actually being here and being part of the team and the city.

He accepted that Miller was the #1 goalie and realized his value as a dressing room leader and that he was riding shotgun on a contender, so he never publicly wanted out of Buffalo. He has his family here and Buffalo's the only organization he's ever known, since he was EIGHTEEN.

Links to this post:

About Me

James has covered the NHL and the game of hockey since 2004, beginning with this website and continuing with The Globe and Mail (2008-16) and The Athletic. He is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, a long-time radio analyst with TSN and was the NHL network manager at SB Nation from 2008 to 2010. A graduate of Thompson Rivers and Ryerson universities, James grew up in Kamloops, B.C. as a season ticket holder in the Blazers' glory years.

my sponsors

► Casino Guide Canada is home to the best Canadian online casinos with exclusive bonuses and reviews including free picks & predictions found in their NFL online betting previews and recommended Canada online sportsbooks.